High school baseball coaches plan their schedules and Mother Nature laughs.
Often, she’ll also have a high likelihood of rain in the forecast for opening day whenever the Orange Panthers are concerned.
That was the situation last year when Orange was slated to face Ragsdale in Hillsborough for Jason Knapp’s first game as the coach of the Panthers. So instead of playing in Hillsborough, the Panthers cruised to an 18-1 win in Jamestown.
Originally, Orange was supposed to start the 2020 season against Western Alamance at Panther Field on Tuesday. But with a 50% chance of rain, the game was rescheduled over the weekend to Monday night.
Knapp started last season without his top two pitchers from the previous season. He will open his second season the same way.
Luke Riley, his opening day starter who went 4-4 with a 4.12 ERA last season, graduated last June. Cooper Porter, who started at Orange since his freshman year at six different positions, went 3-0 in 12 appearances last season. In January, Porter transferred to Wilson Fike.
Porter’s departure leaves Orange a much younger team that will be anchored by shortstop Joey Berini, a four-year starter who committed to East Carolina last year. Berini, who hit .541 with 33 hits and 26 RBIs with a team-high 35 runs scores, was the Big 8 Player of the Year in 2019.
After the graduations of Riley, Porter, Dante DeFranco, Colin Guentensberger, and Tucker Joseph, the Panthers are left with four returning starters.
Berini, first baseman Dayne Watkins, left fielder Tucker Miller and third baseman Cooper Hench were all regular starters in 2019.
In 20 games last year, Watkins hit .339 with 19 hits, 17 runs and eight doubles. Miller, a rotation player for the Orange men’s basketball team the past two seasons, hit .280 last year.
Hench split time between third base and on the mound in 2019. He hit .500 in 76 plate appearances. He was tied for second on the team with 31 hits. Hench also earned a critical win in Orange’s Big 8 Conference opener against East Chapel Hill, which was the only league loss for the Wildcats the whole year.
As for pitching, Hench and junior Jordan Underwood are the most experienced arms still on the roster. Underwood earned wins against Hillside, Cedar Ridge and Northern Durham last season. He made eight appearances on the hill in 2019, the longest coming in the 13-2 win over the Hornets on March 22 in Durham. Underwood went five innings and surrendered four hits, two runs and two walks with five strikeouts. It was his first varsity win.
While Colin Guentensberger graduated and is braving the final days of winter at Appalachian State, his younger brother Ethan is a senior with the Panthers. He may replace Joseph as the starter behind the plate.
New to Orange this season is freshman Jackson Berini, Joey’s younger brother who started at shortstop for Stanford Middle School last season. Jackson was also the leadoff batter for a Chargers team that won the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division Championship, and fell to Smith Middle School in the OPAC title game.
While rain is forecast throughout the week, Orange has a road trip to Eastern Alamance scheduled for Thursday, followed by a home game against Northern Guilford on Saturday.
Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast the Orange-Western Alamance game tonight starting at 6:50pm. First pitch is at 7.